Life expectancy at birth for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in 2010-2012 was 69.1 years for men and 73.7 years for women, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

ABS Director of Demography, Bjorn Jarvis, said "Life expectancy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men increased by around one and a half years over the last five years, compared to about one year for non-Indigenous men. Life expectancy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women increased by about half a year over the period, roughly the same increase as non-Indigenous women,"

"The figures show that the gap in life expectancy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people compared to non-Indigenous people has narrowed, but only slightly," said Mr Jarvis.

The new figures for 2010-2012 show that life expectancy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men is estimated to be 10.6 years lower than non-Indigenous men, while life expectancy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women is 9.5 years lower than non-Indigenous women. The gap has reduced by 0.8 years for men and 0.1 years for women over the period.

Further details are available in Life Tables for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2010-2012 (cat. no. 3302.0.55.003).

Media Note: When reporting ABS data you must attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.